1. Field of the Invention
The present general inventive concept relates to a method and apparatus to generate information on a relationship between characters in contents.
2. Description of the Related Art
Multimedia content services can be provided through a variety of media such as the Internet, mobile devices, televisions, and the like, and the number of multimedia content services is growing exponentially. As the amount of multimedia contents has dramatically increased, there has been an increasing demand for technologies allowing a user to quickly ascertain the gist of multimedia contents.
When the content is a video file, a method of outputting a specific scene that is selected according to a predetermined standard is well-known as one of the technologies allowing the user to quickly ascertain the gist of the multimedia contents.
For example, when the content is a video file of a soccer game, only a scene generating a noise higher than a predetermined level may be selected and provided to the user. That is, this method utilizes a feature that the spectators generally cheer when a team scores a goal or gets a good chance to score a goal. That is, a circumstance in which a loud noise is generated is determined as an important scene and provided to the user.
In addition, when the content is a video file, a method of quickly reproducing a varied scene of an overall video file by increasing a sampling rate of a portion having lots of changes in a screen (e.g., changes in a color, motion, and the like) and reducing the sampling rate of a portion having relatively moderate changes in the screen may be used.
However, the above-described methods cannot be utilized when the contents are plot-oriented video files such as dramas or movies, since the above-described methods cannot summarize the overall plot of the content.
Meanwhile, when the contents are plot-oriented video files or electronic books, information on relationships between characters of the content may be beneficial in understanding the plot of the content.
However, a method of generating information on relationships between characters of a content and providing the information to the user has not been provided in the prior art.